US imposes sanctions on Syrian official

US Treasury Department imposed on Tuesday sanctions on a Syrian official and three front companies it said were helping the Syrian government, which has been engaged in a bloody civil war, Reuters reported.

The department targeted Batoul Rida, an official of the Central Bank of Syria; one Syria-based company and two companies in Lebanon for working with the Syrian weapons agency according to the Scientific Studies and Research Centre.

According to the US Treasury, these companies had connections to Syria’s chemical weapons programme.

“We are determined to use our financial tools to raise the costs to the Syrian government of its illicit activities,” said Adam Szubin, Acting Undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Szubin expressed his opinion on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, saying that it is a “gross violator of human rights” and engages in “dangerous weapons proliferation.”